Dr Simon Hanslmayr PhD

Senior Lecturer

Contact details

School of PsychologyUniversity of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

About

Dr Simon Hanslmayr is an expert in the role of brain oscillations for human cognition. His research addresses the question of how brain oscillations mediate long-term memory and attention in the human brain.

Qualifications

Biography

Dr Simon Hanslmayr studied Psychology at the University of Salzburg and finished his PhD in 2005 on the role of alpha oscillations for attention and perception under the supervision of Professor Wolfgang Klimesch. From 2006 until 2010 he did a Postdoc in the lab of Karl-Heinz Bäuml at the University of Regensburg where he focused on the role of brain oscillations for episodic memory. In 2010 he started his own independent research group at the University of Konstanz, funded by a prestigious Emmy-Noether award (1.2 Mio) from the German Research Foundation (DFG), where he continued his research on the role of brain oscillations for episodic memory formation. In September 2013 Dr Simon Hanslmayr joined the School as a Senior Lecturer.

Teaching

Dr Hanslmayr teaches a 1st year module on “Perception & Attention”. He is also a statistics advisor supporting 3rd year Psychology students with their research projects.

Postgraduate supervision

Dr Hanslmayr supervises talented and motivated students who are interested in any of the following areas:

- Brain oscillations and episodic memory

- Alpha oscillations and attention / visual perception

- Brain oscillations and cognitive control

- Computational modelling of brain oscillations

Hanslmayr's lab has access to a range of research facilities, including a 3T MRI scanner, 64-channel EEG with concurrent neurostimulation (tACS/tDCS), Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and behavioural testing equipment. Furthermore, access to MEG and intracranial recordings is available via established collaborations. Students who are interested in a PhD or Master’s project in one of the above mentioned areas should directly contact Dr Hanslmayr via email s.hanslmayr@bham.ac.uk.

Research

My research projects currently focus on two areas. One area regards the role of brain oscillations for episodic memory formation and retrieval. Recently I became especially interested in the role of desynchronized neural activity for episodic memory and its possible links to mathematical information theory. A second research area is concerned with the role of ongoing alpha oscillatory activity for attention on one hand and for perception on the other hand. Therein I am interested in how fluctuations of prestimulus alpha activity gate subsequent perceptual processing.